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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bulb · mine · perch · stem · fan · lean · shower · wound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. lean — thin
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. stem — to come from
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bulb — for light
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. perch — the fish
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. bulb — for light
  17. mine — for digging
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. lean — to bend
  24. stem — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com